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What Is Japa?
Repeating a mantra with or without counting devices
such as malas is known as japa. It is a practice used by aspirants
of all religions as a powerful tool to control the mind. They
exercise their mind by doing prayers or japa, often with rosaries
or malas.
At the time of japa one repeats a mantra for a prescribed number
of times such as 108 times, 1008 times and so on, so in order
to keep account of the number of repetitions made one uses a
mala consisting of specific number of beads. In order to count
the number of rounds done grains of rice are used that can be
combined with malas. The grains of rice are counted and put
in a metal pot. Each time a mala is completed, one grain of
rice is removed from the remaining number of grains.
Malas get charged with energy after they have been used for
japa frequently. If one has done 125,000 repetitions of the
mantra on a mala, it becomes charged with energy (siddha).
One can use a mala of 27+1 beads or 54+1 beads or 108+1 beads
to perform japa.
Existence of a sumeru bead is very necessary in a japa mala.
Malas always have an extra bead hanging outside the row of beads,
whose total number is usually 108. This 109th bead is called
Sumeru.
The sumeru bead of malas should never be passed. It thus becomes
a static point in these malas.
The aspirant should start the mala at the first bead next to
sumeru and should end on the last bead before sumeru.
If the aspirant has to do the mala twice (or more), he should
turn it and make the last bead become the first bead for starting
the second round. |
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